69-481: Marcher Radio Group Ltd , previously Marcher Sound Ltd , was a British media organisation which operated several radio stations in north Wales and northwest England . The company, now owned by Global Radio (but legally still existing,) founded the independent local radio stations Marcher Sound , Coast 96.3 , Buzz 97.1 , Champion FM 103 , and Wrexham and Chester Gold , part of the Gold Network . The company
138-427: A "radio station" as a government-licensed AM or FM station; an HD Radio (primary or multicast) station; an internet stream of an existing government-licensed station; one of the satellite radio channels from XM Satellite Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio ; or, potentially, a station that is not government licensed. AM stations were the earliest broadcasting stations to be developed. AM refers to amplitude modulation ,
207-494: A business opportunity to sell advertising or subscriptions to a broader audience. This is more efficient than broadcasting to a single country, because domestic entertainment programs and information gathered by domestic news staff can be cheaply repackaged for non-domestic audiences. Governments typically have different motivations for funding international broadcasting. One clear reason is for ideological, or propaganda reasons. Many government-owned stations portray their nation in
276-627: A franchise agreement with Global. Global Radio extended the Heart network to the Real Radio network of regional stations from Tuesday 6 May 2014. The two stations based in Wrexham – Heart North West and Wales and Heart Cymru – became part of the Capital FM Network on the same date. On 20 November 2017, CN Group announced The Bay would be sold to Global along with sister station Lakeland Radio –
345-458: A kind of vacuum tube , was invented in 1904 by the English physicist John Ambrose Fleming . He developed a device that he called an "oscillation valve," because it passes current in only one direction. The heated filament, or cathode , was capable of thermionic emission of electrons that would flow to the plate (or anode ) when it was at a higher voltage. Electrons, however, could not pass in
414-543: A mode of broadcasting radio waves by varying the amplitude of the carrier signal in response to the amplitude of the signal to be transmitted. The medium-wave band is used worldwide for AM broadcasting. Europe also uses the long wave band. In response to the growing popularity of FM stereo radio stations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, some North American stations began broadcasting in AM stereo , though this never gained popularity and very few receivers were ever sold. The signal
483-585: A national boundary. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the type of content, its transmission format, or the transmitting power (wattage) of the station, even if the transmission is not technically illegal (such as a webcast or an amateur radio transmission). Pirate radio stations are sometimes referred to as bootleg radio or clandestine stations. Digital radio broadcasting has emerged, first in Europe (the UK in 1995 and Germany in 1999), and later in
552-511: A nationwide network of independent local radio stations operated by GCap Media which syndicated much of its programming from GWR FM Bristol . The practice of programme simulcasting has been extensively used by Marcher in the past across its FM stations, and still continues this to an extent in its local programming opt-outs . In 2005 GCap announced it was to sell many of its radio businesses, including those of Marcher Radio Group. However, in March 2006
621-426: A positive, non-threatening way. This could be to encourage business investment in or tourism to the nation. Another reason is to combat a negative image produced by other nations or internal dissidents, or insurgents. Radio RSA , the broadcasting arm of the apartheid South African government, is an example of this. A third reason is to promote the ideology of the broadcaster. For example, a program on Radio Moscow from
690-529: A public audience . In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio station , while in satellite radio the radio waves are broadcast by a satellite in Earth orbit. To receive the content the listener must have a broadcast radio receiver ( radio ). Stations are often affiliated with a radio network that provides content in a common radio format , either in broadcast syndication or simulcast , or both. The encoding of
759-634: A radio broadcast depends on whether it uses an analog or digital signal . Analog radio broadcasts use one of two types of radio wave modulation : amplitude modulation for AM radio , or frequency modulation for FM radio . Newer, digital radio stations transmit in several different digital audio standards, such as DAB ( Digital Audio Broadcasting ), HD radio , or DRM ( Digital Radio Mondiale ). The earliest radio stations were radiotelegraphy systems and did not carry audio. For audio broadcasts to be possible, electronic detection and amplification devices had to be incorporated. The thermionic valve ,
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#1732859193814828-457: A significant threat to the AM broadcasting industry. It required purchase of a special receiver. The frequencies used, 42 to 50 MHz, were not those used today. The change to the current frequencies, 88 to 108 MHz, began after the end of World War II and was to some extent imposed by AM broadcasters as an attempt to cripple what was by now realized to be a potentially serious threat. FM radio on
897-426: Is all that is necessary for a narrowband FM signal. The 200 kHz bandwidth allowed room for ±75 kHz signal deviation from the assigned frequency, plus guard bands to reduce or eliminate adjacent channel interference. The larger bandwidth allows for broadcasting a 15 kHz bandwidth audio signal plus a 38 kHz stereo "subcarrier" —a piggyback signal that rides on the main signal. Additional unused capacity
966-421: Is little affected by daily changes in the ionosphere, so broadcasters need not reduce power at night to avoid interference with other transmitters. FM refers to frequency modulation , and occurs on VHF airwaves in the frequency range of 88 to 108 MHz everywhere except Japan and Russia . Russia, like the former Soviet Union , uses 65.9 to 74 MHz frequencies in addition to the world standard. Japan uses
1035-844: Is produced and broadcast from the headquarters of Global at Leicester Square in central London. Most of the network's output is broadcast live, although some weekend shows are voicetracked . As of 21 June 2019, Heart's Club Classics is simulcast with sister station Heart Dance . The Sky VIP Official Big Top 40 on Sunday afternoons is simulcast with Heart's sister network, Capital . Source: All Heart stations broadcast local news bulletins each day – updates air hourly from 5am to 7pm on weekdays and from 6am to 12pm at weekends, similar to how Capital broadcasts news updates. In accordance with OFCOM speech requirements, some Heart stations produce separate localised bulletins. For example, Heart West produces bulletins for Bristol and Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Devon and Cornwall. As of 2014,
1104-466: Is sometimes mandatory, such as in New Zealand, which uses 700 kHz spacing (previously 800 kHz). The improved fidelity made available was far in advance of the audio equipment of the 1940s, but wide interchannel spacing was chosen to take advantage of the noise-suppressing feature of wideband FM. Bandwidth of 200 kHz is not needed to accommodate an audio signal — 20 kHz to 30 kHz
1173-453: Is subject to interference from electrical storms ( lightning ) and other electromagnetic interference (EMI). One advantage of AM radio signal is that it can be detected (turned into sound) with simple equipment. If a signal is strong enough, not even a power source is needed; building an unpowered crystal radio receiver was a common childhood project in the early decades of AM broadcasting. AM broadcasts occur on North American airwaves in
1242-476: Is the automation of radio stations. Some stations now operate without direct human intervention by using entirely pre-recorded material sequenced by computer control. Heart Network Heart is a network of thirteen independent adult contemporary radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global , while
1311-447: Is used by some broadcasters to transmit utility functions such as background music for public areas, GPS auxiliary signals, or financial market data. The AM radio problem of interference at night was addressed in a different way. At the time FM was set up, the available frequencies were far higher in the spectrum than those used for AM radio - by a factor of approximately 100. Using these frequencies meant that even at far higher power,
1380-662: The Galaxy network, four stations ( BRMB , Beacon Radio , Mercia FM and Wyvern FM ) forming a West Midlands regional network, seven stations joining Capital FM to form The Hit Music Network and the remaining 29 stations forming the Heart Network. Heart East Midlands was sold to Orion Media, along with the West Midlands network of local stations, due to the same competition concerns that had forced its earlier sale to Chrysalis. Between June and September 2010, Global Radio merged
1449-554: The Marconi Research Centre 2MT at Writtle near Chelmsford, England . A famous broadcast from Marconi's New Street Works factory in Chelmsford was made by the famous soprano Dame Nellie Melba on June 15, 1920, where she sang two arias and her famous trill. She was the first artist of international renown to participate in direct radio broadcasts. The 2MT station began to broadcast regular entertainment in 1922. The BBC
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#17328591938141518-506: The medium wave frequency range of 525 to 1,705 kHz (known as the "standard broadcast band"). The band was expanded in the 1990s by adding nine channels from 1,605 to 1,705 kHz. Channels are spaced every 10 kHz in the Americas , and generally every 9 kHz everywhere else. AM transmissions cannot be ionospheric propagated during the day due to strong absorption in the D-layer of
1587-680: The 1960s to the 1980s was What is Communism? A second reason is to advance a nation's foreign policy interests and agenda by disseminating its views on international affairs or on the events in particular parts of the world. During the Cold War the American Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and Indian Radio AIR were founded to broadcast news from "behind the Iron Curtain " that was otherwise being censored and promote dissent and occasionally, to disseminate disinformation . Currently,
1656-582: The 76 to 90 MHz frequency band. Edwin Howard Armstrong invented wide-band FM radio in the early 1930s to overcome the problem of radio-frequency interference (RFI), which plagued AM radio reception. At the same time, greater fidelity was made possible by spacing stations further apart in the radio frequency spectrum. Instead of 10 kHz apart, as on the AM band in the US, FM channels are 200 kHz (0.2 MHz) apart. In other countries, greater spacing
1725-686: The Cornwall ILR station Atlantic FM from joint owners Tindle Radio and Camel Media. Atlantic FM became part of the Heart Network and merged with Heart Devon on Monday 7 May 2012 to form Heart South West , which is based in Exeter. On 6 February 2014, Global Radio announced it would be rebranding all Real Radio stations as Heart and would be selling Real Radio Yorkshire and the Northern licence for Real Radio Wales to Communicorp . The Communicorp-owned stations use Heart's network programming and branding under
1794-637: The North East of England, Wales, central and southern Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire continue to serve their single licence areas as before. In April 2023, it was announced Heart Scotland would reintroduce local breakfast, daytime and weekend programming from 2 May 2023, as part of a major expansion of Global's Scottish radio operations. As of May 2019, Heart's regional network consists of twelve stations: As of 12 September 2024, Heart's national spin-offs consist of ten stations, broadcast from Global's London headquarters: Heart's network programming
1863-506: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission designates the 88–92 megahertz band in the U.S. for non-profit or educational programming, with advertising prohibited. In addition, formats change in popularity as time passes and technology improves. Early radio equipment only allowed program material to be broadcast in real time, known as live broadcasting. As technology for sound recording improved, an increasing proportion of broadcast programming used pre-recorded material. A current trend
1932-561: The UK after BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4 . The total reach for all Heart-branded stations is over 12.9 million. Heart began broadcasting in the West Midlands on 6 September 1994 as 100.7 Heart FM , becoming the UK's third Independent Regional Radio station, five days after Century Radio in North East England , and Jazz FM North West . The first song to be played on 100.7 Heart FM
2001-744: The US and Canada , just two services, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio exist. Both XM and Sirius are owned by Sirius XM Satellite Radio , which was formed by the merger of XM and Sirius on July 29, 2008, whereas in Canada , XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada remained separate companies until 2010. Worldspace in Africa and Asia, and MobaHO! in Japan and the ROK were two unsuccessful satellite radio operators which have gone out of business. Radio program formats differ by country, regulation, and markets. For instance,
2070-576: The US operates similar services aimed at Cuba ( Radio y Televisión Martí ) and the People's Republic of China , Vietnam , Laos and North Korea ( Radio Free Asia ). Besides ideological reasons, many stations are run by religious broadcasters and are used to provide religious education, religious music, or worship service programs. For example, Vatican Radio , established in 1931, broadcasts such programs. Another station, such as HCJB or Trans World Radio will carry brokered programming from evangelists. In
2139-681: The United States and Canada have chosen to use HD radio , an in-band on-channel system that puts digital broadcasts at frequencies adjacent to the analog broadcast. HD Radio is owned by a consortium of private companies that is called iBiquity . An international non-profit consortium Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), has introduced the public domain DRM system, which is used by a relatively small number of broadcasters worldwide. Broadcasters in one country have several reasons to reach out to an audience in other countries. Commercial broadcasters may simply see
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2208-523: The United States came from KDKA itself: the results of the Harding/Cox Presidential Election . The Montreal station that became CFCF began broadcast programming on May 20, 1920, and the Detroit station that became WWJ began program broadcasts beginning on August 20, 1920, although neither held a license at the time. In 1920, wireless broadcasts for entertainment began in the UK from
2277-626: The United States, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and many other countries worldwide. The simplest system is named DAB Digital Radio, for Digital Audio Broadcasting , and uses the public domain EUREKA 147 (Band III) system. DAB is used mainly in the UK and South Africa. Germany and the Netherlands use the DAB and DAB+ systems, and France uses the L-Band system of DAB Digital Radio. The broadcasting regulators of
2346-709: The case of the Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , both governmental and religious programming is provided. Extensions of traditional radio-wave broadcasting for audio broadcasting in general include cable radio , local wire television networks , DTV radio , satellite radio , and Internet radio via streaming media on the Internet . The enormous entry costs of space-based satellite transmitters and restrictions on available radio spectrum licenses has restricted growth of Satellite radio broadcasts. In
2415-456: The coastal areas of north east Wales and The Wirral on 97.1 MHz from the Moel-y-Parc transmitting station . Due to IBA rulings, the company ceased simulcasting and started broadcasting different services on each frequency. The newer 103.4 FM frequency became MFM 103.4, the 97.1 FM frequency became MFM 97.1, and the 1260 AM frequency became Marcher Gold . In 1993, the company acquired
2484-718: The college teamed up with WLOE in Boston to have students broadcast programs. By 1931, a majority of U.S. households owned at least one radio receiver . In line to ITU Radio Regulations (article1.61) each broadcasting station shall be classified by the service in which it operates permanently or temporarily. Broadcasting by radio takes several forms. These include AM and FM stations. There are several subtypes, namely commercial broadcasting , non-commercial educational (NCE) public broadcasting and non-profit varieties as well as community radio , student-run campus radio stations, and hospital radio stations can be found throughout
2553-702: The company and the Carver Corporation later cut the number of models produced before discontinuing production completely. As well as on the medium wave bands, amplitude modulation (AM) is also used on the shortwave and long wave bands. Shortwave is used largely for national broadcasters, international propaganda, or religious broadcasting organizations. Shortwave transmissions can have international or inter-continental range depending on atmospheric conditions. Long-wave AM broadcasting occurs in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The ground wave propagation at these frequencies
2622-619: The company called off the sale. Following acquisition by Global Radio , the Marcher Radio stations broadcasting on FM were rebranded as Heart in June 2009. In 2010 three of the stations were merged into a new station, Heart North West and Wales . In 2014 subsequent changes saw the stations become part of the Capital FM Network . Radio stations Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata , by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to
2691-467: The country at night. During the night, absorption largely disappears and permits signals to travel to much more distant locations via ionospheric reflections. However, fading of the signal can be severe at night. AM radio transmitters can transmit audio frequencies up to 15 kHz (now limited to 10 kHz in the US due to FCC rules designed to reduce interference), but most receivers are only capable of reproducing frequencies up to 5 kHz or less. At
2760-486: The dominant medium, especially in cities. Because of its greater range, AM remained more common in rural environments. Pirate radio is illegal or non-regulated radio transmission. It is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes. Sometimes it is used for illegal two-way radio operation. Its history can be traced back to the unlicensed nature of the transmission, but historically there has been occasional use of sea vessels—fitting
2829-439: The end of the year. This reduced total weekly hours of local programming on each station from 43 to 15 and led to dozens of job losses. Drivetime output were reduced from 23 localised shows to 10 programmes covering enlarged areas, formed from the merger of Heart stations. Ten studios producing local programming were closed. Localised news, traffic updates and advertising was retained across all licence areas. In April 2019, it
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2898-570: The highest and lowest sidebands is quite apparent to the listener. Such distortion occurs up to frequencies of approximately 50 MHz. Higher frequencies do not reflect from the ionosphere, nor from storm clouds. Moon reflections have been used in some experiments, but require impractical power levels. The original FM radio service in the U.S. was the Yankee Network , located in New England . Regular FM broadcasting began in 1939 but did not pose
2967-467: The ionosphere. In a crowded channel environment, this means that the power of regional channels which share a frequency must be reduced at night or directionally beamed in order to avoid interference, which reduces the potential nighttime audience. Some stations have frequencies unshared with other stations in North America; these are called clear-channel stations . Many of them can be heard across much of
3036-896: The majority of the 33 Heart stations to create a smaller network of 18 local and regional stations, in line with new OFCOM guidelines on local output requirements. Two Hit Music Network stations were also closed and merged with Heart stations. Stations in Gloucestershire , Kent , London , the West Midlands , the East Midlands and Wiltshire were unaffected by the changes. Heart Cymru , serving Gwynedd and Anglesey, moved its studios from Bangor to Wrexham but retained its extended local output of 10 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Heart North West and Wales retained an opt-out on 96.3FM (the North Wales Coast) for Welsh language programming. On 1 January 2011, Orion Media,
3105-402: The most common perception of a pirate—as broadcasting bases. Rules and regulations vary largely from country to country, but often the term pirate radio describes the unlicensed broadcast of FM radio, AM radio, or shortwave signals over a wide range. In some places, radio stations are legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross
3174-574: The network uses jingles and themes produced by ReelWorld Europe, based in Salford. Previously, Heart used a jingle package, composed by the Seattle-based music production company IQ Beats. In August 2010, listeners in Bedfordshire and Crawley, West Sussex , complained about the merger of Heart stations and called for a boycott of the station. Some listeners have complained about what they regard as
3243-486: The new band had to begin from the ground floor. As a commercial venture, it remained a little-used audio enthusiasts' medium until the 1960s. The more prosperous AM stations, or their owners, acquired FM licenses and often broadcast the same programming on the FM station as on the AM station (" simulcasting "). The FCC limited this practice in the 1960s. By the 1980s, since almost all new radios included both AM and FM tuners, FM became
3312-453: The other three are owned and operated under separate franchise agreements. The national version of the network is widely available on Global Player, Freeview , Sky , Freesat , Virgin Media and Digital One DAB . The Heart radio stations have a combined reach of 9.7 million listeners as of September 2024, making it the third most-popular radio network and the biggest commercial radio brand in
3381-452: The owners of Heart East Midlands (one of the original three Heart stations) renamed and relaunched the station as ' Gem 106 ', ending a franchise agreement with Global Radio formed when Global purchased GCap – the agreement allowed Orion to use the Heart identity and carry networked programming from London. The move saw Heart's networked programming replaced by local output from Nottingham. On 19 March 2012, Global Radio announced it had bought
3450-455: The range of a given FM signal was much shorter; thus its market was more local than for AM radio. The reception range at night is the same as in the daytime. All FM broadcast transmissions are line-of-sight, and ionospheric bounce is not viable. The much larger bandwidths, compared to AM and SSB, are more susceptible to phase dispersion. Propagation speeds are fastest in the ionosphere at the lowest sideband frequency. The celerity difference between
3519-400: The repetitive nature of Heart's playlist. A public complaint to the regulator Ofcom in 2012 that the "More Music Variety" slogan was materially misleading was not pursued as Ofcom deemed that it did not warrant further investigation. Ofcom stated that "We did not consider listeners were materially misled by this slogan." Further complaints were made to the station in 2019, largely regarding
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#17328591938143588-470: The reverse direction because the plate was not heated, and thus not capable of thermionic emission of electrons. Later known as the Fleming valve , it could be used as a rectifier of alternating current, and as a radio wave detector . This greatly improved the crystal set , which rectified the radio signal using an early solid-state diode based on a crystal and a so-called cat's whisker . However, an amplifier
3657-592: The rights to broadcast to the north Wales coast on 96.3FM, including Llandudno , Holywell and eastern Anglesey , and named the service Marcher Coast FM . In 1998, Marcher launched Champion 103 broadcasting to Anglesey and Gwynedd from the Arfon transmitting station . In 1999, MFM 97.1 was re-branded Buzz 97.1 , and it moved from Moel-y-Parc to the Storeton transmitter , to specifically target listeners in The Wirral . At
3726-476: The sale was finalised by 1 December 2017. The Bay was rebranded as Heart, with Lakeland Radio becoming Smooth on 4 March 2018. Music from the 1960s , 1970s & 1980s was removed from the original FM station after Christmas 2017. In February 2019, following OFCOM's decision to relax local content obligations from commercial radio, it was announced Heart would replace its local breakfast and weekend shows with additional networked programming from London by
3795-410: The same service area. This prevents the sideband power generated by two stations from interfering with each other. Bob Carver created an AM stereo tuner employing notch filtering that demonstrated that an AM broadcast can meet or exceed the 15 kHz baseband bandwidth allotted to FM stations without objectionable interference. After several years, the tuner was discontinued. Bob Carver had left
3864-472: The same time, Marcher Coast FM was re-branded "Coast 96.3". Subsequent re-brands saw Buzz 97.1 become branded as "Wirral's Buzz", Champion FM 103 becoming simply "Champion", Coast 96.3 again becoming simply "Coast" and MFM 103.4 becoming Marcher Sound. In August 2007, 18 stations of the former Classic Gold Digital Network including Classic Gold Marcher were sold back to GCap Media, merging it with its own Capital Gold network. At this point Classic Gold Marcher
3933-521: The station was moved to the top of the Westinghouse factory building in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Westinghouse relaunched the station as KDKA on November 2, 1920, as the first commercially licensed radio station in the United States. The commercial broadcasting designation came from the type of broadcast license ; advertisements did not air until years later. The first licensed broadcast in
4002-456: The station's original "soft AC" music format was replaced with a generally more neutral Hot AC playlist. Century 106 in the East Midlands became the third station of the Heart network in 2005 after GCap Media sold Century. Chrysalis' radio holdings were sold to Global Radio in 2007. When GCap Media was taken over by Global Radio in 2008, it announced plans to dissolve the 41-station One Network , with one station ( Power FM ) becoming part of
4071-408: The time that AM broadcasting began in the 1920s, this provided adequate fidelity for existing microphones, 78 rpm recordings, and loudspeakers. The fidelity of sound equipment subsequently improved considerably, but the receivers did not. Reducing the bandwidth of the receivers reduces the cost of manufacturing and makes them less prone to interference. AM stations are never assigned adjacent channels in
4140-557: The world. Many stations broadcast on shortwave bands using AM technology that can be received over thousands of miles (especially at night). For example, the BBC , VOA , VOR , and Deutsche Welle have transmitted via shortwave to Africa and Asia. These broadcasts are very sensitive to atmospheric conditions and solar activity. Nielsen Audio , formerly known as Arbitron, the United States –based company that reports on radio audiences, defines
4209-511: Was Something Got Me Started by Simply Red . Its original format of " soft adult contemporary " music included artists such as Lionel Richie and Tina Turner . Reflecting this, its early slogan was 100.7 Degrees Cooler! Heart 106.2 began test transmissions in London in August 1995, prior to the station launch on 5 September. This included live broadcasts of WPLJ from New York City . In 1996
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#17328591938144278-517: Was amalgamated in 1922 and received a Royal Charter in 1926, making it the first national broadcaster in the world, followed by Czechoslovak Radio and other European broadcasters in 1923. Radio Argentina began regularly scheduled transmissions from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires on August 27, 1920, making its own priority claim. The station got its license on November 19, 1923. The delay
4347-500: Was carrying audio by the next year. (Herrold's station eventually became KCBS ). In The Hague, the Netherlands, PCGG started broadcasting on November 6, 1919, making it arguably the first commercial broadcasting station. In 1916, Frank Conrad , an electrical engineer employed at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation , began broadcasting from his Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania garage with the call letters 8XK. Later,
4416-456: Was due to the lack of official Argentine licensing procedures before that date. This station continued regular broadcasting of entertainment, and cultural fare for several decades. Radio in education soon followed, and colleges across the U.S. began adding radio broadcasting courses to their curricula. Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts introduced one of the first broadcasting majors in 1932 when
4485-459: Was established in 1983 after successfully acquiring a local radio licence to broadcast Marcher Sound to Wrexham , Deeside and Chester on 95.4 MHz FM / VHF (from the Wrexham-Rhos Relay ) and 1260 kHz AM / Mediumwave . The station launched on 5 September 1983. After a review, the frequency changed to the more familiar 103.4 MHz . In 1989 the station opened an FM relay to cover
4554-531: Was quickly becoming viable. However, an early audio transmission that could be termed a broadcast may have occurred on Christmas Eve in 1906 by Reginald Fessenden , although this is disputed. While many early experimenters attempted to create systems similar to radiotelephone devices by which only two parties were meant to communicate, there were others who intended to transmit to larger audiences. Charles Herrold started broadcasting in California in 1909 and
4623-490: Was re-branded to simply "Wrexham and Chester Gold". In 2000, the company was purchased by GWR Group , which included all of its radio assets. This followed an attempt to expand the Group further, including bidding for another licence on Merseyside , which was later secured by Dune FM . In 2005, GWR Group and Capital Radio merged to form GCap Media . Upon purchase, Marcher's four FM licences became part of The One Network ,
4692-488: Was reported the local Heart Breakfast shows would be replaced by a national Heart Breakfast show from London on 3 June 2019, presented by Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden . The merging stations ceased local output on 31 May 2019. In Hertfordshire, a further change saw Heart Hertfordshire , based in Watford, merged with BOB fm – following its acquisition by Communicorp – to form a single countywide service. Stations in
4761-487: Was still required. The triode (mercury-vapor filled with a control grid) was created on March 4, 1906, by the Austrian Robert von Lieben ; independently, on October 25, 1906, Lee De Forest patented his three-element Audion . It was not put to practical use until 1912 when its amplifying ability became recognized by researchers. By about 1920, valve technology had matured to the point where radio broadcasting
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